TAMPA – Not only am I not a doctor, I have never even played one on television. Understand as well that I am not suggesting that the physicians and medical staff personnel employed by the Devils are anything other than honorable professionals. Still, I just cannot understand how the team could even think about allowing Scott Stevens to play tonight, 48 hours after taking a screaming slap shot on the left side of his skull.

Maybe I’m overly sensitive to the subject, having within the last five years chronicled the career-ending concussions of Pat LaFontaine and Jeff Beukeboom, the career-threatening concussions sustained by Mike Richter, and the ongoing Eric Lindros saga.

Lou Lamoriello said yesterday that Stevens had not suffered a concussion as a result of the blow he suffered 1:17 into Monday’s Game 3 loss to the Lightning, and who am I to suggest otherwise? But it sure would seem prudent for No. 4 to take another couple of days – to take as long as he needs – before rejoining the fray.

Pat Burns said he is operating under the assumption that Stevens will play in tonight’s Game 4 of a series that’s developed some juice. But since when do coaches tell the truth about possible lineup changes?

Indeed, on the day prior to Game 4 of the Boston series, Burns said he was making no lineup changes; the morning of the game he mentioned that Ken Daneyko would be out for the first time in his career. So who knows? Maybe the Devils have no intention at all of rushing Stevens back.

The Devils say it’s going to depend on how Stevens feels today and tonight. Lamoriello said yesterday that Stevens, who remained back at the team hotel while every one of his teammates reported to the rink for practice, was “feeling fine.” What? Stevens is mighty stubborn, all right, but could he really be that thick-headed? Feeling fine after being struck at close range on the left ear by a projectile traveling at upward of 85 miles per hour? Not even a headache?

On the afternoon following the 4-3 loss that the team immediately wanted to blame primarily on Marc Joannette for an incorrect application of the hurry-up faceoff rule – really, are we to believe that it was the referee’s fault that the Devils, who can change five men at a time on the fly as if choreographed by “Chicago” movie director Rob Marshall, shouldn’t have been able to adjust to one incorrect person being on for an offensive zone faceoff? – the Devils still weren’t ready to exonerate Pavel Kubina for the shot that felled the captain.

One by one – at least those who were asked – they said they sure hoped it wasn’t intentional, but that it looked odd. Burns bristled when asked for his take, saying he had no idea, that he wasn’t on the ice, that he didn’t have a good angle on it.

He did, however, admit that he doesn’t think he’s ever seen a player intentionally attempt to injure an opponent by shooting a puck at his face, but added that only Kubina could know for sure. Kubina, stunned at the suggestion he’d acted with malice aforethought, said it was an accident.

Then again, maybe by making these charges the Devils are simply trying to get into Kubina’s head. That, however, is not the one with which the team should be concerned. They should be concerned with and for Stevens. There’s no such thing as toughing out a head injury. This isn’t about a threshold of pain; it’s about quality of life.

No matter how well the captain says he feels, I can’t even begin to imagine the circumstances under which he should play.